Collaborative Proposal: RCN on Integrative Pollen Biology

合作提案：RCN 综合花粉生物学

• 批准号: 0955910
• 负责人: Alice Cheung
• 金额: $ 45.33万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-05-01 至 2018-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0955910&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Proposal; RCN; Integrative; Pollen

Pollen tubes are specialized plant cells whose function is to transport sperm to fertilize the egg, thus they are crucial for plant reproduction, agricultural productivity and species preservation. The vegetative cell that extends a tube from the pollen grain is widely recognized as an excellent model system with which to study cell growth. Interactions between pollen and pistil (the female reproductive organ) govern tube growth, direction, and sperm discharge and are excellent models for cell-cell communication studies. In recent years, research on pollen has entered a new phase of exciting, transformational advances stimulated by adoption of new tools in molecular genetics, functional genomics and live-cell imaging. This model cell system has also attracted increasing numbers of new and established investigators with backgrounds in different biological areas. The Research Coordination Network (RCN) on Integrative Pollen Biology will aim to provide a coordinated forum for the expanding pollen community to work together synergistically, exchange information, share tools and resources and discuss working models. The Network will focus on activities to nucleate and broaden the research community and facilitate collaborative experimental and computational approaches to achieving a systems understanding of pollen. A short course on basic pollen research methods will provide a head start to establish a variety of research methods specialized for pollen study, thus lowering the barriers newcomers face when considering initiating research with pollen. There is a proliferation of information stored in multiple public and private databases, and one of the major goals of the RCN will be to extract this information, share it and work in collaborative groups in order to expedite and facilitate research advances in the next decade. The RCN will establish a "Wiki pollen" site to facilitate integration of biochemical, physiological and cellular data obtained from different laboratories towards a pilot effort in modeling pollen tube growth, from which further hypotheses may be generated to obtain a deeper understanding of this cell growth process. The RCN will also sponsor Summer Internships for graduate students to bridge training at the interface of biology and computer science. The RCN sponsored interns will develop data mining, analysis and integration projects, and the outcomes of these projects will be accessible on the RCN website. Since few laboratories have the expertise to take advantage of the ever increasing spectrum of research tools available for biological research, the RCN will subsidize traveling expenses to facilitate collaborations between groups with complementing interest and expertise. In facilitating research effectiveness among the pollen community, the RCN's ultimate goal is to promote pollen research at the cutting edge of science and technology for years to come.Broader Impact. The RCN will sponsor mutual visits of faculty and students between primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) or minority-serving institutions and research universities within the network laboratories. These two-way visits, especially with scientists from research universities visiting PUIs, will effectively reach more undergraduates, and the impact on research activities in these PUIs will be more sustainable after these visits. To broaden the pipeline for future biologists from an early stage, the RCN will also sponsor Summer Internships and Workshops for high school teachers, who will in turn bring the exciting developments in plant reproduction to students in high schools.

花粉管是特殊的植物细胞，其功能是运输精子使卵子受精，因此它们对于植物繁殖、农业生产力和物种保存至关重要。 从花粉粒伸出管子的营养细胞被广泛认为是研究细胞生长的优秀模型系统。 花粉和雌蕊（雌性生殖器官）之间的相互作用控制着管的生长、方向和精子的排出，是细胞间通讯研究的优秀模型。近年来，由于分子遗传学、功能基因组学和活细胞成像等新工具的采用，花粉研究进入了令人兴奋的变革性进展的新阶段。 该模型细胞系统也吸引了越来越多具有不同生物领域背景的新的和成熟的研究人员。 综合花粉生物学研究协调网络（RCN）旨在为不断扩大的花粉群体提供一个协调论坛，以协同工作、交换信息、共享工具和资源并讨论工作模式。 该网络将重点关注核心和扩大研究群体的活动，并促进协作实验和计算方法，以实现对花粉的系统理解。关于基本花粉研究方法的短期课程将为建立专门用于花粉研究的各种研究方法提供一个良好的开端，从而降低新来者在考虑开始花粉研究时面临的障碍。多个公共和私人数据库中存储的信息激增，RCN 的主要目标之一是提取这些信息、共享信息并在协作组中工作，以加快和促进未来十年的研究进展。 RCN 将建立一个“维基花粉”网站，以促进整合从不同实验室获得的生化、生理和细胞数据，以进行花粉管生长建模试点工作，从中可以产生进一步的假设，以更深入地了解这种细胞生长过程。 RCN 还将为研究生赞助暑期实习，以在生物学和计算机科学的交叉点上架起培训桥梁。 RCN 赞助的实习生将开发数据挖掘、分析和集成项目，这些项目的成果将可以在 RCN 网站上访问。 由于很少有实验室拥有专业知识来利用不断增加的生物研究研究工具，RCN 将补贴差旅费，以促进具有互补兴趣和专业知识的团体之间的合作。 为了提高花粉界的研究有效性，RCN 的最终目标是在未来几年内促进科学技术前沿的花粉研究。产生更广泛的影响。 RCN 将赞助网络实验室内主要本科院校 (PUI) 或少数民族服务机构和研究型大学之间的师生互访。 这些双向访问，特别是研究型大学的科学家访问PUI，将有效接触到更多的本科生，并且在这些访问之后，对这些PUI研究活动的影响将更加可持续。为了从早期阶段拓宽未来生物学家的培养渠道，RCN 还将为高中教师赞助暑期实习和研讨会，从而为高中学生带来植物繁殖方面令人兴奋的进展。